Tag: food

Bringing the heat

Three Marines the leadership team behind The General’s Hot Sauce.

Trio of Marines head up South Carolina-based hot sauce business

Driven by their common bond as Marines and as graduates of the University of South Carolina (from left) Kevin Cox, Chris Behling and Stephen Osegueda are the leadership team behind The General’s Hot Sauce. Photo by Mic Smith.

When Marine reservist Dillon Cox was finishing up his business degree at the University of South Carolina in 2016, he figured he’d soon be working at a Charlotte bank. Stephen Osegueda was nearing the end of a second deployment to Afghanistan and unsure of his future.

Neither Marine thought they’d soon be spending their days and nights grinding jalapeno and cayenne peppers and churning out a variety of hot sauces that are now sold in all 50 states and 23 countries while helping out fellow veterans.

The idea for forming a business to benefit veterans came at an Army-Navy tailgate in 2012. One of those company founders shared a class at USC’s Darla Moore School of Business with Cox and pitched him the idea. Cox became the company’s first full-time employee when he was hired as the head of business development. Osegueda, who was living with Cox, then came on as head of operations. Chris Behling was a reservist in Cox’s unit and became the company’s head of finance in 2020.  

Their sauces – which can be found on shelves at Harris Teeter, Publix and Lowes Foods in South Carolina — are unique in that 86 percent of the peppers used in their sauces are grown in Lexington, S.C.

The sauces come in a glass container resembling a grenade with labels ranging from Grunt Green to Hooah Jalapeno to Shock and Awe.  When customers see that grenade, Cox says they’re thinking of “the explosive heat and flavor and it also leads you to what is really important to us: our mission of donating to veterans.”

Since the first sauce was bottled in March 2016, Behling says, the company has donated more than $750,000 to organizations aiding veterans, including the Warrior PATHH project at the Big Red Barn Retreat Center in Blythewood, S.C. “I hope someone would do the same for me if I was in need, and there’s something rewarding about helping those who have already given so much.”

Osegueda agrees. “You put one foot in front of the other and take care of each other.”

The men are proud of their time as Marines and say the can-do attitude of the Corps is the secret to their success.

“The brotherhood is what bonds us,” Osegueda says. “I don’t see why it should change just because my uniform consists of a beard net now instead of bloused boots.”

“The mission is going to get accomplished,” Cox adds, “regardless of 9 to 5.” 

Getting to know Dillon Cox, Stephen Osegueda and Chris Behling

Claim to fame: The leadership behind The General’s Hot Sauce, a veteran-owned, Columbia, S.C.-based business whose product is sold worldwide and provides jobs and funds for veterans.

Ages: Cox, the head of business development, is 31, while Osegueda, head of operations, is 32. Behling, head of finance, is 24. All three are Marines and graduates from the University of South Carolina.

Favorite food for hot sauce? Cox and Osegueda are vocal supporters of splashing their signature Danger Close sauce atop slices of Little Ceasar’s Pizza. “I put it on everything except ice cream,” Cox says.

Who is the General? That’s top secret, Cox says. The Buffalo, N.Y., native was the “hardest-working guy, frying up his wings” at the tailgate for the 2012 Army-Navy game, where the idea for the company was first formed. “Someone said that guy needs his own hot sauce,” Cox says and the name stuck.

Co-op affiliation: Cox is a member of the Edisto Electric Cooperative.

Editor’s Note: A version of this SC Stories profile was featured in the September 2023 issue of South Carolina Living, a magazine that is distributed 11 times a year to more than 1 million South Carolinians by The Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina.

South Carolina’s top dog? It’s Cliff Daley and his tasty treats

He’s the King of Corn Dogs and his dogs are known at festivals throughout the Southeast.

It was the winter of 1975 and Cliff Daley faced a life-changing moment.

He and his wife, Kim, had just married. They’d met while working in a snow cone wagon and playing co-ed soccer. She was a geologist, he an executive at a multinational conglomerate. But in January, his father, Zanelle, died of a heart attack. His mother, Dorothy, was caught in Alzheimer’s, in need of constant care.

The couple considered the bright yellow concession trailer Cliff had helped his father build in 1962 and one where he still worked weekends, serving corn dogs and funnel cakes.

“We said, ‘Hey, we’ve got to commit to it or go on and get out,’” Cliff recalls. “We decided to commit.”

Cliff Daley and family in front of one of his concession trailers in October 2003.
(Photo provided by the Daley family.)

The Daleys left their jobs, landed fair contracts and invested in equipment. And now, Daley’s Concessions is a food services business embarking on a third generation with four trailers seen at festivals throughout the Southeast.

“This concession has held my family together. We’ve been able to grow as a family and work together,” Daley said of Kim and their four children, two of whom plan to continue Daley’s Dogs. “They grew up in these wagons. They learned people skills. They learned to do math and make change. They learned how to serve a good product and take care of customers.”

Many of the workers at Daley’s Dogs throughout the years have been family members and friends. (Photo provided by the Daley family)

Cliff’s the Betty Crocker of Corn Dogs, touting the homemade batter and peanut oil that sears the outside, resulting in “great flavor and an ungreasy” corn dog that’s won numerous blue ribbons. Daly’s personal favorite remains the traditional dipped in mustard and there’s another one wrapped with a pickle and the now-popular jalapeno. 

“We’ve done it all,” he said, pointing to the Elvis corn dog dipped in a banana-flavored mix and slathered in peanut butter that won the Most Creative award at the North Georgia State Fair.          

2020 was the most challenging year for his business as COVID spread and fairs and festivals were cancelled.

“We went through all our savings,” Daley said. “We were very fortunate to stay afloat.”

He credits their religious faith, as well as a small business loan and generous friends.

“One thing about COVID, we tried to find something good in it, and it was people helping people and our faith in the Lord. Every time we prayed at night, there was hope.”

The Gun and Knife Show at the SC State Fairgrounds in March was their first event in almost a year. While costs have doubled for their hot dogs and cooking oil, he remains confident of the future.

“All of our events have started coming back,” he said. “People tend to be a lot nicer to one another now. Their income is flowing and everything is very positive.”

Cliff Daley and his Daley’s Dogs.
(Photo provided by the Daley family)

Getting to know Cliff Daley

CLAIM TO FAME: The owner of Daley’s Concessions has been called the King of Corn Dogs as his family has been dipping and serving Daley’s Dogs for nearly 60 years now.

HOMETOWN: Columbia, S.C.

JUST FOR KICKS: Daley received an athletic scholarship and starred on the pitch for the University of Alabama in Huntsville soccer team. He tried out for the U.S. national team before the 1976 Olympics and made it to one of the final rounds before being cut. “If it hadn’t been for that scholarship, I’d have probably joined the service and gone into Vietnam.”

FAVORITE FESTIVAL? For more than 50 years, there’s been a Daley’s Concessions at the SC State Fair. “Most everyone comes and sees us and they see a lot of their old friends from school,” said the graduate of nearby Dreher High School. “It’s like a big family reunion.”

HIS GO-TO MEAL? “It’s hard to beat a good hot dog, especially with homemade chili and onions and a little slaw.”

FAMOUS FANS: The Monday After the Masters golf tourney hosted by Hootie and the Blowfish is a favorite event. Those who’ve praised his dogs? NFL quarterbacks Dan Marino and Brett Favre and rocker Alice Cooper.

Editor’s Note: A version of this SC Stories profile was featured in the October 2021 issue of South Carolina Living, a magazine that is distributed 11 times a year to more than 1 million South Carolinians by The Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina.